Novamorphs 2: The Search
by Sciencefictionsquirrel
Summary: After the Novamorphs destroyed the oatmeal research, Jeff and the team, in order to maintain Jeff's cover, prepare to embark on a journey to find an ancient starship that the Yeerks want. They must keep the Yeerks from keeping the ship after they find it.
1. Chapter 1

Novamorphs #2: The Search

Summary: After the Novamorphs destroyed the oatmeal research, Jeff prepares to embark on a journey to find an ancient starship that the Yeerks want in order to maintain his cover as a Controller. He and the rest of the Novamorphs need to find the ship but at the same time keep it from ending up in the Yeerks' hands.

My name is Jeff. I can't tell you anymore than that. Hell, just telling you my first name is a risk. The Yeerks know who I am; I used to be a Controller. You see, evil parasitic alien slugs are invading the Earth . . . again. The Yeerks crawl into your ear and then attach themselves to your brain, where they can control your every move. I was finally freed recently, and I joined a group of six other kids who began to fight the Yeerks.

I was attempting to keep the Yeerks unaware that I had turned against them, which was why I was currently sitting in the Yeerk Pool complex having a meal with about 50 Controllers of all shapes and sizes. To my left was a Javrakari, to my right a Hork-Bajir. They were voluntaries, and their names were Szlisstransi and Neft Valtak, respectively. Their Yeerks were Veznal 2357 and Rentas 2468, two close friends of my former Yeerk, and Imperial Knights. As such, to maintain my cover, I had to socialize with them and their hosts, who were currently free while the Yeerks were feeding.

"All I'm sssaying iss that the Leeranss are ussseful hosstsss and that we ssshould clone an army of them." Szlisstransi said. I nodded.

"Unfortunately, we can't get close enough to them to get a DNA sample. We'd have to get through the Andalite defenses in place. Those new Z-space inhibitors prevent any ships from entering the system except through normal space, giving the newer, more powerful Dome ships they've recently developed plenty of time to detect and destroy any ships we send there. Well, in any case, I have to leave; I need to prepare for my upcoming mission."

"I heard about that. Locating and retrieving a Kalmra sship. An interessting missssion. I heard you are assssembling a team to accompany you. Who iss going with you?" Szlisstransi said.

"I haven't fully decided yet. I am, of course, going to take my six new trainees with me. I am also going to be taking Malizath One-Zero-Five-Three, as she is an expert on the Kalmra and should be able to help in locating the ship. In addition, I am considering taking Kaldar One-Five-Three-Six and Meltas Four-Nine-Seven-Eight, as they are scientists who can study the Kalmra technology."

"You not take us?" Neft asked.

"I might take you two, but my concern is that Sevrak will not risk three Knights on this mission due to the fact that Kalmra technology is frequently heavily guarded and booby-trapped." I said. My Yeerk, before he died, had been an Imperial Knight, a special Yeerk that only obeyed Sevrak 434, known to the Andalites as the Demon Lord. Sevrak, in turn, only answered to the Yeerk Emperor. Some people even suspected that Sevrak was the real Emperor and that the person thought to be the thirteenth member of the Council was really a decoy. Imperial Knights were used for special ops work, but risking multiple Knights on a single dangerous mission wasn't something Sevrak was likely to do. He was cold and evil, but he also regarded the Knights as his children and cared for them as such.

After the meal, I headed to my personal quarters, which I had been living in for the past week-and-a-half after Alex, the leader of our group, and I had decided that, in order to help maintain my cover, I had to live at the Yeerk Pool complex for a while, at least until the mission to the Kalmra ship was over because I would be expected to stay at the Yeerk Pool complex to flesh out the details of the mission. After that, I could ask for permission to remain off base for a time.

Sevrak apparently had great faith in my ability, as he had already ordered construction to begin on the ship that I would be given upon my promotion. I had provided a detailed schematic that Aldrea, one of Alex's friends and an Andalite, had helped design. It was expected that the ship would be completed by the time I returned and was promoted.

I pulled out my cell phone and contacted Alex. He'd been really freaked out after he'd escorted Aldrea home twelve days ago after she'd narrowly escaped being killed when we'd destroyed the Yeerk research that would have allowed them to live without Yeerk Pools, an advantage we couldn't allow them to have. However, whenever I tried to talk to him about it, he always changed the subject. His most recent response had been the exclamation 'NOTHING HAPPENED!!!! NOW DROP IT!!!' followed by him promptly hanging up. Despite this, I was determined to figure out what had happened

When Alex picked up the phone and a three-dimensional image of his head appeared on the holographic interface, he said, "What is it now, Jeff?"

"Alex, what happened between you and Aldrea?" I asked.

"Jeff, why won't you listen to me? NOTHING HAPPENED. Why can't you drop it?" he said.

"Alex, I just want to know what happened. That's all." I said.

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? Now could you leave me alone? Darren's here, and we're trying to decide who'd win: Batman or Iron Man."

"That's easy: Iron Man would use his vast array of weapons to kill Batman." I said.

In the background, I heard Darren say, "Wait, something happened between you and Aldrea? What was it?"

"Shut up, Darren." Alex said.

"Holy crap. She morphed a human male and did . . . things . . . to you, didn't she?" I heard Darren say jokingly.

"Go to hell, Darren!!" Alex yelled, and I saw the hologram shift to the side, followed by an unmistakable THUNK and a cry of pain. I realized that Alex had punched Darren full in the face for that insensitive joke.

"Jeff, I'll call you back later, okay? I've got an idiot to maim." Alex said, and hung up.

"Darren, I pity you." I muttered. I expected that Darren would have to morph to avoid permanent injury. Alex was extremely sensitive to things regarding Aldrea, and Darren's smart comment wouldn't sit well with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next few days passed slowly. I'd assembled my team, which included the Novamorphs, who were undercover as the Yeerks I'd introduced them to Sevrak as, and several Controllers. Finally, it was the day of the mission. Alex and his friends had managed to get things cleared with their parents. As far as the adults were concerned, their kids were spending the next week at each others' houses. That was, hopefully, as long as it would take to get to the ship. The hard part was going to be making sure the Yeerks didn't get to keep the ship once it had been located.

As we gathered in a hangar near the Yeerk Pool, I looked at the ship we would be taking. It was a new Venska-class Bug fighter, intended for planet-based missions away from civilization. It had less powerful Dracon cannon, but better engines, an enlarged living space, and a cloaking device that the Yeerks had developed. It was going to be our base while we were in the Himalayas looking for the Kalmra ship.

I then looked at the other area of the hangar bay, where my future ship was under construction. It was going to be a beauty. At this point, it was about two-thirds of the way finished. I examined the elegant curves, the way the three wings spaced equidistantly around the egg-shaped body curved forward to bring new, improved Dracon cannon to bear, the metallic black coating, the one-of-a-kind Z-space reconfiguring array mounted in a bubble on the front lower half of the fuselage designed to deliberately and controllably reconfigure Z-space to shorten trips. I'd insisted that, on its completion, all information regarding the array, which Aldrea had obtained from a scientist on the Andalite Homeworld, be destroyed. It had been a huge risk even giving it to the Yeerks in the first place, but Sevrak had assured me that my request would be honored. In fact, the only people who had been allowed to even know about the design were Knights who had been specifically ordered by Sevrak to never speak of the information and submit themselves to partial memory erasure upon the completion of the ship. Knights would never disobey Sevrak.

I made sure the Bug fighter was fully prepared, then motioned for the others to come aboard. The team consisted of myself, the rest of the Novamorphs, Malizath One-Zero-Five-Three, an expert on the Kalmra, Kaldar One-Five-Three-Six and Meltas Four-Nine-Seven-Eight, two scientists, and a small group of Javrakari and Hork-Bajir guards. Also, there were several other Bug fighters, each of which would carry its maximum capacity of passengers, who were a group of 100 soon-to-be Imperial Knights. I was to lead them on this mission, and then I would bee promoted to a rank that would give me some control over regular Yeerks. As everyone climbed into the Bug fighter, I noticed a familiar blue-robed figure walk forward. He was a massive human-Controller. Sevrak 434, the leader of the Knights. He was accompanied by another Human-Controller pulling a large box on an antigravity sled.

"What is it, Great Lord?" I asked as they approached the Bug fighter.

"There has been a slight change of plans. I must insist that Korrigan Seven-Five-Nine-Four accompany you as well." Sevrak said.

"Why must Korrigan accompany us?" I asked. Korrigan was a particularly well-known Yeerk scientist who was responsible for the development of many of the recent advancements in Yeerk technology. He had developed a new ship-piloting system based on Andalite technology. It used a thought-interface to allow ships to be controlled mentally.

"He believes he may have developed a way of detecting the ship more effectively and wishes to bring a sensor unit designed to detect the specific energy emitted by the Kalmra technology we have recovered so far. We believe the Kalmra ship may be buried in a cave hidden within the mountain range. The only disadvantage is that we do not have the time or resources to build a larger model to work from orbit. He has developed several handheld versions that can scan through a kilometer of rock and snow. However, he has also developed a small unit that can be attached to a Bug fighter and is powerful enough to detect the ship within a radius of several kilometers through solid rock and snow to expand the search area significantly."

"Very well." I said, motioning for Korrigan to come onboard.

Aldrea spoke. "Forgive me, but I must attend to personal concerns." She said. She was in human morph, and, by my calculations, she was approaching the end of the two-hour time limit.

"Go." I said simply. Aldrea nodded, heading into the ship's bathroom.

Once Korrigan was onboard and all final preparations were made, I sat in the pilot's chair, placed my hands on the control interface, and began the standard takeoff sequence, concentrating my thoughts on flying the ship. As the fighter lifted off, the hangar ceiling opened, revealing a passage leading up through a dummy building into the open air. I activated the cloaking device as we rose into the passage. A few seconds later, we emerged, and I took us up into orbit. The plan was simple: We'd fly to the Himalayas while in orbit, then enter the atmosphere and touch down. Once we were in orbit, I engaged the autopilot and walked back to where the others were sitting.

"So, how's it going?" I asked Alex. He was sitting on one side of the ship. Aldrea was sitting on the opposite side, and they were sneaking glances at each other, but, whenever one of them caught the other looking, they immediately glanced away. I could tell they were both embarrassed about something.

"It's going okay." Alex said. "What about you?"

"I'm fine. Just have some time to kill." I said.

About two hours later, I entered the cockpit again and switched the ship off of autopilot to begin reentry. I slowly guided it down through the atmosphere, heading for a ledge on a mountain near Mt. Everest. The Kalmra had preferred cold, mountainous, high-altitude terrain, so the highest mountain range on Earth was the logical place to begin. Also, Yeerk sensors had picked up weird energy signatures coming from this area, but they had been unable to pinpoint the exact location.

When we landed, I told everyone to get the proper gear on. That included special thermal suits that covered the whole body, antigravity maneuvering units to make scaling rock faces easier, and, rather than bulky oxygen tanks, special, compact rebreathers that recycled exhaled breath, allowing for a nearly unlimited oxygen supply. Once everyone had the gear on, we left the fighter.

Korrigan looked at me. "Sir, I would like to begin interfacing the new sensor unit with the fighter's current sensor array."

"You may begin. Everyone else, start setting up an operational base camp. I want perimeter sensors and defenses, insulation fields, power generators, and cloaking devices set up within the hour. As soon as Korrigan is finished installing his sensor unit into the ship, I am going to take it out and start scanning the area with my six apprentices. Everyone else, form into groups after the base camp is set up and take handheld scanners to begin the search." I said.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A short time later, Korrigan announced that the sensor unit was properly installed and that I could begin the search. I motioned for the Novamorphs to come back onto the fighter, and, once everyone was onboard, I looked at Korrigan.

"You must come as well to operate this sensor unit." I said.

"I understand." Korrigan said, walking onto the ship. I looked at Aldrea.

"Korrigan, you will instruct Makal Two-Three-Five-Seven on the use of the sensor unit." I said.

"As you wish." Korrigan said, walking over to the sensor unit. "Makal, please come over here so that I may show you how to operate this sensor."

Aldrea walked over as Korrigan began pointing out various controls and readouts.

I started up the fighter and then programmed a new course into the autopilot. It would take us in a grid pattern around the mountain range. Once we lifted off, I engaged the cloak and then activated the autopilot before heading back into the main area and heading for my personal quarters. I looked at Alex. "Vekna, I wish to speak with you."

"Okay." Alex said, following me into the room.

Once we were both inside, I closed and sealed the door. "Alex, I need to talk to you about what happened between you and Aldrea. You haven't said more than two words to her since it happened. I don't want it getting in the way of this mission, and it will if you don't interact with her. Since the two of you are working closely together under me, the Yeerks will expect you to talk and socialize with her. Now tell me what happened." I said.

"Jeff, you can't tell the others about this. Not yet, in any case. Do I have your word that you won't say a thing about it to the others?" Alex asked.

I nodded. "You have my word."

"Okay. I flew with her back to the Andalite base. We talked about this war and what she wanted me to do if she got killed. Then we landed, she morphed to a different human female morph than her normal one, and pulled out some alcohol, saying that narrowly escaping death was cause for celebration. She got _drunk_ and started coming onto me. She kissed me, and I seriously think she wanted to . . . to go a lot further. I freaked out and got out of there as quickly as possible." Alex said.

"I knew there was something going on between the two of you." I said.

"Jeff, _nothing_ is going on between us. I care about her a lot, and she cares about me. That's all. Even if the feelings were . . . different . . . I wouldn't want to get involved with her right now. There's a war going on, and I don't know if I could deal with being closer to her than I am while knowing that she could die during any mission. I couldn't risk that." Alex said emphatically.

Just then, there was a sharp knock on the door. "Kezran, Vekna, I believe we may have located something of interest." Korrigan said.

"What is it?" I asked, opening the door and walking out.

"The sensor unit picked up a Kalmra energy signature. It is too small to be the ship, but it may be a marker of sorts, perhaps a guide pointing the way. It is buried beneath approximately a kilometer of rock and ice. The energy fluctuations indicate it may be transmitting a repeating message, but that it is a very weak message, so the rock and ice are also preventing us from receiving the signal."

"Arm the Dracon cannon and see if you can clear enough rock and ice to intercept the message."

"Sir, the Dracon cannon may well be too powerful. They could well destroy the marker or cause an avalanche that would bring more ice, rock, and snow on top of the target."

"Then use them at a lower setting to clear most of the way, and then contact the base camp and have them bring handheld Dracon beams."

"Yes, sir." Korrigan said, immediately rushing to do what I had instructed.

A short time later, after using two volleys from the Dracon cannon, we landed the ship as close to the area as we could. I instructed Korrigan to remain on the ship and see when we had cleared enough rock for the communications system to pick up the apparent signal. Each of the seven of us had a Dracon beam at the seventh setting or higher. We formed a rough circle and started shooting at the rock and ice, vaporizing considerably large sections of it with each blast. About ten minutes later, a few others arrived to start helping us. For the next hour we kept working, switching out with others who weren't working so that we could take a break and warm up; the temperatures were too cold for just the thermal insulation suits to handle.

Finally, Korrigan spoke up. "Sir, we are receiving the message, although it is very weak and the rock is still thick enough that we are only getting approximately 20 percent of the message. I estimate that we need to clear another hundred meters before the signal can be completely received."

"How far have we already blasted?" I asked.

"Roughly 750 meters." Korrigan said. I looked at the hole. It was now about 300 meters across.

Thirty minutes later, we had made the hole 100 meters deeper.

"Okay, we are receiving the signal clearly. It is heavily encrypted. I am running it through our decryption-interpretation program now." Korrigan said.

"That won't do any good. The Kalmra language is incredibly complex; there are almost 100 different dialects, each of which has hundreds of possible interpretations for a single five-word sentence based on minute differences in factors such as tone, pitch, pronunciation, even the speed at which it is spoken or read. To complicate it, many of the factors can change from word to word. The message is most likely verbal, which means a single mispronounced syllable can completely change the meaning of the whole sentence. I'll have to go over the message myself to translate it. It will take several days." Malizath One-Zero-Five-Three, a Human-Controller and an expert on the Kalmra, said.

"Very well. Get started on it." I said. She nodded and then entered the Bug fighter to begin working on the translation. I looked at the others. "We're going to maintain our original base camp until Malizath has translated the signal. In the meantime, continue the search. Perhaps we can find other guides that will lead us to the ship without needing to interpret this signal."


End file.
